We are mid way through almond harvest. As we finish up shaking our Nonpareils, we need to keep in mind the list of orchard tasks to help maintain crop production for the next year. For almonds, flower bud differentiation takes place during the month of September. This means that next year’s bloom and subsequent crop is being formed in the middle of this year’s harvest. During this time period, there are three important cultural practices that need to be considered by almond growers.They include irrigation, nitrogen fertilization and pruning. 1. Post-harvest irrigation is very important to keep the leaves active and functioning until normal leaf drop, which typically takes place at the end of October, early November. By preventing premature defoliation, we let the tree transition its nutrients from the leaves back to the fruiting spurs. The nutrients that are known to migrate from the leaves to the spurs at the onset of leaf fall are nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous. These nutrients play major roles in bloom development and fruit set. If the orchard does prematurely defoliate due to lack of water, irrigate to encourage re-growth. This may reduce yields in the following year, but yield loss will not be as significant as not watering at all. If watering does not occur, not only will fruit bud differentiation be poor, the orchard will suffer from premature flower drop in late winter. The best advice is to avoid this situation all together by properly managing your water during the harvest period. 2. After irrigation, nitrogen fertilization is the most important cultural practice in an almond orchard. For most of our orchards, split nitrogen applications provide the most efficient use of nitrogen. A post-harvest nitrogen application can be of 20 to 40 pounds per application – dependent upon tree age- totaling no